Lorenzo's Oil Analysis

The movie, Lorenzo’s Oil, presents the real-life account of Lorenzo Odone’s plight with the debilitating disease adrenoleukodystrophy (ADL) and his family’s struggle to combat it. At the beginning of the movie, Lorenzo was introduced as the active, lighthearted child of two loving and caring parents. After living in Africa for three years, the Odone finally returned to the United States, where Lorenzo began to attend school. Upon their return, Lorenzo’s happy disposition slowly started to unravel, and he began to exhibit extreme behavioral problems. Concerned about their child, his parents took him to a neurologist to determine the source of his peculiar mannerisms, only to discover that Lorenzo was afflicted with ADL—an X-linked disease that inhibits the degradation of long-saturated fats in the bloodstream and causes the corrosion of neuronal myelin sheaths. The young boy’s cognative, motor, and sensory capabilities would deteriorate prior to his death, which was expected upon two years of the diagnosis. Devastated, the Odones began to research every aspect of the disease, along with potential treatments. In doing so, they encountered the top ADL research scientist, Dr. Nikolais.

Prior to contacting one another, Dr. Nikolais had developed an experimental diet program for ADL patients to reduce their levels of saturated fat in their blood. The Odones placed Lorenzo on the diet, only to find that his levels of saturated fat rose. Upon joining an ADL support coalition, they found that other children complying with the same diet saw similar results. After addressing the issue, the Odones discovered resistance from the organization’s founders to recognize the issue. In the meantime, Lorenzo’s mental state was progressively worsening.

Disillusioned, the Odones reverted to more research and found that integrating purified oleic acid—a compound that was not permitted in Dr. Nikolais’ diet—into Lorenzo’s diet should reduce his levels of saturated fats. Against Dr. Nikolais’ advice, the Odones administered the treatment and saw that it was only effective for the first month. Upon further investigation, they found that adding purified erucic acid, in conjunction with oleic acid, had the potential to significantly decrease Lorenzo’s saturated fat levels. In applying this treatment, Lorenzo’s—whom at this point was a vegetable—levels dropped exponentially and, inevitably, receded to normal. Further administration of the concoction led to the discovery of Lorenzo’s restored, yet limited motor and cognitive capabilities. The movie ends enigmatically, with hopes of the boy’s full mental restitution.

In watching Lorenzo’s Oil, one of the most prominent scenes for me was when Michaela Odone stood up at the ADL support coalition meeting and stated something to the affect of, “I was unaware that our children were in the service of biomedical science. I thought biomedical science was in the service of our children.” I thought that statement in particular was key to emphasizing the dual perceptions to combating the disease presented in this film: that of genuine care and dedication and that of moderate concern and apathy. As a physician who took the Hippocratic Oath and vowed to “do no harm” to his patients, Dr. Nikolais’ reluctance to implement the treatment due to the compounds’ toxic natures was justifiable. But was it morally correct to allow countless numbers of children to die as a result? The Odones were able to make that necessary concern secondary in order to ensure the proliferation of their child. Incidentally, this objective was identical to that of the physician. I found this dichotomy especially interesting when comparing the Odones to the parents that founded the ADL group.

On another note, I thought the conclusion of the movie demonstrated that Lorenzo, along with other ADL patients, had the potential to regain a significant amount of their cognitive and motor capabilities. I was glad to find that Lorenzo is still alive today, but I was slightly dismayed in the fact that he has not had much progress. Although his family has had to champion many obstacles in order to establish the Myelin Project, it was a necessary step to gaining the widespread awareness of the disease.